--strict vs --no-newline

Julian Foad wrote on 2014-06-17:
> [We had]
>>   * svnversion --no-newline
>>
>>   * svn propget --strict         # basically means no-newline
>
>    * svnlook youngest
>
>    * svn youngest --no-newline    # subcommand added after 1.8
>
> and I just added a --no-newline option to 'svnlook youngest':
>
>    * svnlook youngest --no-newline
>
> But now I notice that 'svnlook youngest' is the only 'svnlook'
> subcommand for which the '--no-newline' option is implemented, out of
> about seven commands for which it would make sense.
>
> $ svnlook --help
> ...
>    author               ALWAYS adds a newline
>    cat
>    changed
>    date                 ALWAYS adds a newline
>    diff
>    dirs-changed
>    filesize             ALWAYS adds a newline
>    help (?, h)
>    history
>    info
>    lock
>    log                  ALWAYS adds a newline
>    propget (pget, pg)   NEVER adds a newline
>    proplist (plist, pl)
>    tree
>    uuid                 ALWAYS adds a newline
>    youngest             OPTIONALLY adds a newline

This is silly. Either we should add a 'no-newline' option for all of these (and conversely a 'newline' or 'add-newline' option for 'svnlook propget' because of its historically opposite default behaviour) or we should not add any such option just to one subcommand in v1.9. I added this option for 'youngest' recently because I assumed it was an anomaly that it didn't have the option, but it wasn't.

I'll revert the addition of the 'no-newline' option to 'svnlook youngest', if we don't come up with a better plan.

Then the 'no-newline' option to 'svn youngest' will also be an anomaly and I'll want to remove that too. But hopefully instead we'll agree to replace 'svn youngest' with some other UI (see mail thread "Don't release 'svn youngest'? [was: --strict vs --no-newline]").

>> Now I intend to:
>>
>>   * make 'svn propget --strict --show-inherited-props' error out;

Done in r1611698.

>>   * make 'svn propget --no-newline' an alias for 'svn propget --strict'.

No, let's not do that unless we offer 'no-newline' more widely than just in 'svn propget'. The existing 'strict' option (which means the same thing) is sufficient otherwise.

- Julian
Received on 2014-07-18 20:09:24 CEST